Hurry, Yu!
by KH777
Summary: Yu has thirty minutes. He has to be quick, he can't, won't, fail.


This is a _Seraph of the End_ fan fiction. _**This is by no means intended to be yaoi.**_

 __Thirty minutes. The black-haired youth had exactly thirty minutes to find Yoichi and bring him back before they would both be stuck out here where the monsters and vamps were rampant. Being stuck didn't scare him nearly as much as the fact that he hadn't found Yoichi. Yu had utterly no clue what had befallen his best friend and honestly was worried sick. Not that he'd admit it. Okay, maybe he would admit to being _worried_ but not to the extent that he felt right now. His stomach flipped and churned at every dang thing that resembled a figure in black, and his heart had hurled itself at his chest several times already. He was scared to death that he was too late. What if he was already dead?

Cold. Dead. Lifeless. The imaginary image of Yoichi, pale as a sheet and dead as a door nail lingered in his mind. Being often plagued by nightmares, he had at least one with each of his friends dying, and he remembered each nightmare clearly. It was always too little too late. No! He told his mind to shut up, he needed to stay calm.

 _Stay calm, stay focused. Ready to act..._ He told himself with a deep breath. If Yoichi was wounded, a second of hesitation could be the difference of life and death. He would die before he lost anyone else.

"...gah!"

Registering a familiar yelp, Yu's eyes widened before he sprinted as fast as his legs would carry him. He could feel the rush of power as his hand clutched the handle to unsheathe his sword. Once he was upon a clearing, he vaguely took in the sight. All his mind saw in the rush was Yoichi on the ground and a vamp a few paces in front of him. That's all he needed to know.

"Stay _away_ from him!" Yu exclaimed as he let go a wave of black, forcing the attacker back as he stood protectively in front of his friend.

"...Yu... thank goodness..."

Yoichi's weak voice reached his ears and he let out a sigh of relief. That's when he noticed two things: there were three others present on the ground, that he could tell were dead with a flinch and that no counterattack against him had ensued. Instead there was a face contorted with annoyance.

"If you are just after the shrimpy brat, you can take him and leave. My interest is in these three."

Twenty minutes. Yu didn't have time wasting to be fighting, and these three were dead already. He didn't believe it though. "Really?"

"Yes. I would just be wasting energy fighting you, these three are sufficient."

 _For food?_ He thought bitterly. _Or revenge?_ He guessed it didn't matter, if he could skip a battle here, he would take it. He just didn't have time for this. Not taking his eyes off of him nor sheathing his sword, he kneeled down to assist Yoichi. Huge, puppy-like hazel eyes met with his as he scanned his small friend. Grimacing at how beat up he was, his eyes glanced over to his hands tied behind his back. _What? Don't tell me these three are the ones who hurt Yoichi?_

Seeing that his breaths were labored in how his chest heaved with every breath, Yu gave a smile to reassure him. "There's nothing to worry about, Yoichi. You're safe. Here, hold still alright?" Using his sword, he carefully cut the bonds around his wrists and hauled an arm around his shoulders, pulling them both to their feet. Though, Yoichi was too weak to be able to stand, let alone walk.

"...thank you..." Yoichi smiled to him as he dragged him along. Frowning, he wondered if they could make it on time like this. No, Yoichi needed medical attention, he _had_ to make it. With renewed vigor, he rushed back as fast as he could.

Ten minutes. He was only halfway there, this was going to come close. Definitely not the first time he'd cut anything close, he thought with a grin. Though, he expected Yoichi to be lighter. Maybe he just didn`t realize how dang heavy he was, despite being quite small and skinny. Everyone probably felt heavy when you had to drag them and run.

Five minutes. They were getting closer. Yu took a glance over at Yoichi to notice with a start that he had passed out. Gritting his teeth, he continued a bit faster.

One minute. He could see it in sight. It was closing. "HEY! DON'T CLOSE IT YET!" He shouted between ragged breaths.

Thirty seconds. A pink and black figure approached and supported Yoichi with him.

Five seconds. Two black clad girls held it for them as they passed thorough. Yuichiro collapsed to the ground with his arms and legs spread out, breathing harder than he could ever remember and completely drenched with sweat. It caked his hair to his forehead and his clothes to his skin. He still couldn't help smirking like an idiot, relieved that he made it in time.

As he controlled his breathing, Shinoa handed him a bottle of water. "Thanks..." He mumbled as he downed it with one gulp. Exchanging nods, Kimizuki carried Yoichi on his back as he went to get a doctor for him.

"I'm starting to think you're just doing this for the rush." Guren commented as he approached them. Recovering mostly, Yu stood up.

"Say whatever the heck you want... You're not the one who had to drag him." He scowled at him.

"Well, I'm glad that you two are here. We were all getting worried." Shinoa smiled. "Even Mitsu."

"W-well, that's- I would be pretty ticked at you right now, if it wasn't for Yoichi. What the heck happened to you two?"

"Honestly, I don't know either." Yu frowned. "But I'm pretty sure it wasn't a vamp or one of those monsters that did it."

"What?! What person-"

"Let me finish. When I found him, a vamp was _about_ to attack him, but he was already like this and he was tied up. The three that probably did it, were already dead. The vamp probably had a grudge or something against them, cause he wasn't that interested in Yoichi and I."

"Sounds like either someone taking out their anger on him, or someone who had a grudge against you." Guren said. "It doesn't really matter since they're dead now. I'll go report that in."

As Guren was leaving, the sickening feeling returned to Yu's stomach. What if they did hurt Yoichi because they hated him...? Not that he would let it show how horrifying that thought was. He couldn't recall making that much of an enemy against someone else.

"Why don't you go clean up, Yu? It'll be a while before we will be allowed to see Yoichi." Shinoa suggested.

"Right..." Yu muttered, taking note of how much of a mess he was. As he was walking, he couldn't get his mind off the thought of someone hurting Yoichi to upset him. The worst part was that Yoichi might not know either; so it could end up being an eternally unanswered question.

Once he had finished and was wearing a new sweat-free uniform, he literally bumped into Kimizuki.

"Watch where you're going!"

The two of them snapped at the same moment. Yu wasn't in the mood for fighting with him right now though and just sighed. "Ugh, let's not fight."

"Fine by me." Kimizuki shrugged.

When he was carrying Yoichi in here, he was kinda a little out of it and didn`t realize Kimizuki was the one who helped him the rest of the way. "Hey, thanks."

"For what?" Kimizuki raised his eyebrows.

"For helping me carry Yoichi in. I'll admit how flipping tired I was, I couldn't have dragged him the rest of the way in time."

"Your welcome, I guess. Shinoa and Mitsuba told me what happened." Kimizuki crossed his arms. "Sounds pretty rough, you should probably rest too."

Honestly, he was exhausted, but he didn't think he was going to be able to sleep. If the thought of this being his fault wasn't enough, he would likely have another vivid nightmare. "I'll rest a bit later."

"Alright, just don't pass out. I'm not dragging you too." With those words, the two parted and Yu headed towards the place was Yoichi was resting. He wanted to be there when Yoichi woke up and he really had nowhere better to be. Perhaps if the guilt wasn't present, he probably would've headed off somewhere isolated to dwell in his lonesome. But no, he had to be there for Yoichi now, it was the least he could do for him.

He made sure to be roundabout about it though, because he wasn't sure if they would let him in the room with Yoichi yet. Once he walked in, he was met with a harsh antiseptic smell. It wasn't exactly a hospital, more of a place where the teams would go in the event that a team member was wounded. It was filled with activity and out of the corner of his eye, he already saw another team bringing in their friend. A regular hospital probably wouldn't be quite so hectic, unless it was right after a vamp or monster was loose in the city or something. Before he could approach anyone to ask, someone came up to him.

"Are you Yuichiro Hyakuya?"

"Yeah that's me."

"Your friend requested to see you."

"What?! He's awake already?"

If Yu had known he was going to wake up like that, he would have gotten here faster and felt a pang of guilt about it. But he shoved it down his throat.

"Yes. Since he has asked for you, I will make an exception and let you visit for a few minutes as long as you keep your voice down."

"Right. I can be quiet."

Once he stepped into the room, he made eye contact with Yoichi whose face lit up upon seeing him. It didn't surprise him though, Yoichi was the opposite of a loner, he always seemed to want someone else with him. Not that he could blame him, especially not after what happened. After getting beat up by people, being around a bunch of strangers has got to be unnerving.

"Hey, how do you feel?" Yu asked gently.

"Much better with you here..." Yoichi smiled, but his face soon fell into a frown. "Hmm? What's wrong...? I'm okay..."

 _Crap. Am I really that easy to read?_ "Nothing's wrong."

"Are you sure...? You seem disturbed..."

"...I said nothing's wrong, so don't worry. "

"It's not your fault what happened Yu... They were just upset because... their friends died."

"Oh." Both of them were solemn for a few moments before Yu's emotions varied from relieved to angry. He was relieved that it wasn't really his fault what happened. But on the other hand he was pretty ticked that they would attack Yoichi just because they were upset. Not to downplay their emotions, he completely respected that, but the concept of assaulting some stranger just because you're upset and angry is ridiculous. Take it out on a vamp or a monster or on a wall or something. Guess it hardly mattered though, because they were dead. It was pretty sad. I mean he was ticked, but he didn't want them to die.

"That's what you were worried about... wasn't it...?"

"Erm, yeah... But you're the one who got hurt Yoichi, I can deal with whatever just fine."

"Ok..." A few minutes later the person from before returned to tell Yu that he should leave now. Yoichi's face fell. "Does he really have to leave...? I want him to stay..."

"Hmm... Well, I guess it's okay as long as he stays quiet and doesn't get in the way. If that's okay with you?"

"I don't have anywhere better to be." Yu said, nodding to Yoichi. The brown-haired boy's face brightened again as Yu brought up a chair to sit by his bed.

"Thank you, Yu..."

"You don't need to thank me..." Yu mumbled, face turning a bit red as a hand scratched the back of his head.

...

A bit of time later, after Yoichi had long fallen asleep, Yu crossed his arms and fell asleep as well in the chair. Usually, he was a light sleeper, but his exhaustion caused him to sleep more deeply than usual. By the time he had woken up, his friends had come and gone, and Yoichi had awoke for an hour or two when they had visited.

The next time they had visited, Yu was awake but Yoichi was asleep. "Oh good you're awake now." Shinoa smiled, but her smile soon turned my devious. "My, you've got a soft spot for Yoichi don't you, Yu?"

"B-be quiet!" Yu scowled at her, but tried not to raise his voice too much for fear of waking Yoichi. "I'm only here because I have nowhere to be and Yoichi wanted me too."

"I never said that was a bad thing. Can we stay with you for a few minutes?"

"I don't see why not..." Yu muttered. "But no fighting. Between any of us."

"Do you really think we're so stupid that we don't know that?" Mitsuba frowned, before taking a seat next to Yu.

"No worries here." Kimizuki said, following after Mitsuba. He honestly didn't think it would be a problem, since Yu was too docile right now to tick him off. The four of them sat in silence, enjoying each other's company.

...

By the time he had been dismissed, Yoichi was in high spirits. "Thank you for staying with me, it means a lot."

"How many times do I need to tell you? You don't need to thank me." Yu brushed him off.

"No really, you're the best friend that I could ask for." Yoichi smiled.

As Yu's face turned a light shade of crimson, he was relieved no one else was around to hear that. Geez, leave it to Yoichi to be that mushy. Yu was speechless for a few seconds. He wouldn't lie though, it was nice to hear that. Not that he would admit it. He gave his shoulder a pat as he spoke. "...D-don't say stuff like that when the others are around alright?"

"Okay." Yoichi gave a small nervous chuckle as they walked in step with each other.

 _Fin_


End file.
